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  Pushing him back so that he sprawled out on the mound of blankets that made up the bed, she leaned over and tugged at the top of his pants. Leather did not have the give of modern fabrics, so she had to yank hard to get them down.

  “Now yours,” T’Kar said, once she’d divested him of his pants.

  She shook her head and eyed his cock, which stood out ramrod stiff from his body. “Not yet. I think you deserve a treat for making it through the tahadu.”

  “My treat is burying my cock inside you, mate.”

  His words thrilled her and sent a rush of heat between her legs, but she wagged a finger at him. “Patience, big guy.”

  His eyes widened as she settled herself between his bare legs and took his rigid length in her fist. When she swirled the tip of her tongue around his crown, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head.

  “Sons of the goddesses,” he murmured.

  Holly lowered her mouth, and took the entire crown into her mouth, sucking on it as she dragged her hand up and down the hard length of him. She loved the low rumbling noises he made as his hands fisted the blankets. He was entirely in her control, and the thought made her body hum with arousal.

  Moving her mouth down his shaft, she took as much as she could, her lips stretched wide. When his crown touched the back of her throat, she squeezed, and he let out a loud groan. Moving back up his length, she glanced across his corded stomach and rippled muscles. His eyes were on her, his gaze hot and possessive.

  She gave him a small smile. “You like watching?”

  T’Kar’s only response was his eyelids fluttering, as he tangled his hands in her hair. She didn’t have to read minds to know just how much he liked it.

  His grip on her head wasn’t hard, but as she started moving her mouth up and down his cock again, he guided her so that she moved faster. She matched the pace of her hand around the base of his cock, and soon he was thrusting his hips up and moaning.

  Holly love hearing his arousal, and feeling his body respond to her mouth. She didn’t have to touch herself to know she was wet and that her nipples were hard. She squeezed her legs together, feeling her clit quiver.

  “Need to…” T’Kar said, while sitting up and flipping her onto her hands and knees.

  She was so startled; she couldn’t even complain that she hadn’t finished when he had jerked her pants down and buried his cock inside her. She let out a cross between a moan and a gasp, and it was her turn to clutch the blankets as he drove into her. Dropping her head down, she thrust her ass into the air and his cock went even deeper.

  “Holly,” he said, his voice husky as he reached around and found her clit, slick with her own juices. He circled it as he hammered into her, and she could feel her release building.

  She craned her neck to look behind her and lock eyes with him. “Fuck me hard, warrior.”

  Her words seemed to shatter him, and he pistoned into her a few more times before he roared his release, holding himself deep and flicking her clit. Holly bucked against him, her muscles clenching, as she came on his still-quivering cock.

  With a heavy sigh, T’Kar sank down, covering her body with his, but not pulling out of her. He threaded his fingers with hers and kissed her neck. “I would go through the tahadu many times over if that was waiting for me each time.”

  “That’s waiting for you anytime, big guy,” Holly said. “No tahadu required.”

  “Holly!” Danica burst into the tent, then slapped a hand over her eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were…Sorry!”

  T’Kar quickly rolled off Holly, who sat up and jerked a blanket over both of them. She rarely saw the captain flustered, but now Danica was breathing heavy, and her hand shook. She was more than flustered. She was in a panic.

  “What’s wrong?” Holly asked.

  “It’s Caro,” Danica said, the quiver in her voice making Holly freeze. “She’s been taken.”

  Thirty-Seven

  “Who was the last person to see her?” Holly asked, as she and T’Kar hurried behind Danica through the darkened village.

  The moons were not high in the sky yet, but they provided enough light for them to weave their way around the tents. Almost all the tents were dark—not because the residents were sleeping, but because almost the entire village was at the communal fire at the far side of the village. From the sounds, it was clear the Dothveks were celebrating. T’Kar did not mind that he was missing the party that was supposedly for him. Not when one of his mate’s friends was missing.

  “That’s the thing,” Danica said. “We can’t remember. We were all so caught up with the tahadu that we can’t remember if she was even there.”

  T’Kar thought back to seeing the females standing near the priestesses when he approached the gauntlet course. He’d been focused on Holly, but he did remember seeing her friends with her—short-haired Max, whom he knew from her time in the Crestek city, K’alvek’s mate Danica, with the pale hair, the shapeshifter with light-purple hair and a furry, green pet tucked under her arm, and…

  “She wasn’t there,” he said, when they reached a tent, and Danica paused before opening the flaps.

  The captain frowned. “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “I remember everyone who was standing near the start of the tahadu. She was not there.”

  Holly slipped her hand in his. “I was so worried about you, I didn’t even notice. What kind of friend am I?”

  “Or me?” Danica asked, pushing back the tent flaps. “What kind of captain am I?”

  They walked into the large, two-poled tent that was illuminated by a pair of hanging lanterns. K’alvek and Kush stood with their arms crossed over their chests, along with Max and Bexli and a handful of other Dothveks.

  Kush nodded in acknowledgment when he saw T’Kar. K’alvek looked up, his eyebrows quirking as his gaze took in their tousled hair, but he did not comment.

  “We are trying to determine how the female could have been taken,” Kush said.

  “You’re sure she’s been kidnapped?” Holly asked, rushing over to Bexli and pulling her into a hug.

  “Caro would never just leave,” Danica said. “She’s not like that.”

  “That’s right,” Holly said, swiping at her eyes. “She doesn’t have an irresponsible bone in her body.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Max said, flicking her fingers through her dark hair. “We’re in an oasis in the middle of a desert. Who could possibly kidnap her out here?”

  “We’re one-hundred-percent sure she didn’t get drunk and wander into the wrong tent?” Holly asked. “Maybe she’s hooking up with a hot Dothvek and wanted to keep it on the down-low.”

  Danica shook her head. “That’s not Caro.”

  “Yeah, Hols,” Bexli said, elbowing her in the ribs. “She’s not you.”

  “Ha ha,” Holly said, clearly not bothered by her friends’ teasing.

  Kush held up a crinkled bit of blue snakeskin. “We found this on her pillow.”

  “It wasn’t on there earlier,” Bexli said. “I’ve never seen it before tonight, and I know Caro wasn’t carrying it around. She’s not into weird stuff like that.”

  T’Kar’s gut tightened. “Is that from a sand serpent?”

  K’alvek nodded. “A giant one, and those are rare.”

  “Really?” Holly squinted at it. “Then I guess we got lucky, because T’Kar and I fought one with skin exactly like that on our way to find you guys.”

  All heads swiveled toward him, and a Dothvek with streaks of gray in his dark hair angled his head at him. “Is this true?”

  T’Kar nodded. “I think I may know who took Caro.”

  A pair of identical Dothveks stepped forward slightly and moved their hands to their blades. “Cresteks?” one of them asked, his voice menacing.

  T’Kar’s hand instinctively moved to his waist, but his blade was not there. He’d left it back in the tent when he and Holly had dressed quickly. “Actually, I believe it was a Dothvek.”


  All the warriors in the tent emitted low, threatening rumbles.

  “You are saying one of our clan took the female?” K’alvek said. “Impossible. No one would be so dishonorable. And no warrior is missing.”

  “He is no longer in your clan,” T’Kar said, watching the Dothvek faces carefully. “He is an outcast.”

  The warrior with silver shot through his hair narrowed his eyes at T’Kar. “How do you know there is a Dothvek outcast?”

  T’Kar inhaled deeply. “Because he found me on the desert and saved me.”

  Holly’s mouth fell open. “What? You didn’t tell me this.”

  “Things have been a little busy since we were reunited, but after the scavengers left me on the sands, I was as good as dead. Rukken found me, took me to his camp, treated my wounds, and buried me in the sand until I’d healed enough to travel.” He hesitated. “Then he led me across the sands in the direction of the village until he thought I was close enough and then he left me. But I do not know if he stopped following me.”

  Kush grunted. “The presence on the sands when we found you.”

  “It could have been him watching us,” K’alvek said.

  Holly drew in a sharp breath. “Are you saying he saw Caro when she came with us to rescue you?”

  “I do not know for sure, but it is a possibility,” T’Kar said. “He was curious when I told him I had to get back to my offworld mate. And even more curious that there were more of you.”

  “He might have followed us back to camp,” Kush said. “Keeping his distance until we were busy with the tahadu.”

  T’Kar’s stomach roiled as he remembered answering Rukken’s questions about the all-female crew. He had never suspected the outcast would want to take one of the women for himself, although he did know how lonely the former Dothvek was, living alone on the sands. He had not sensed the ulterior motives, if there had been any at the time, but he had felt the male’s isolation. Was that why he’d wanted his translator? So he could communicate with the female he planned to abduct?

  “If this guy saved you, he can’t be all bad, right?” Holly asked, coming over to T’Kar and taking his hand. “Maybe he didn’t mean to take Caro. Maybe he’ll bring her back.”

  T’Kar wanted to tell Holly that it was all a big misunderstanding, but he suspected that Rukken had known exactly what he was doing. The outcast had used the information T’Kar had unwittingly shared to hone in on Caro, stalk her, and kidnap her out from under the Dothveks. And Rukken had left the snakeskin so T’Kar would know it was him.

  He balled his free hand into a fist. “I do not know him well, but I do not think he has any intention of bringing her back.”

  The twin Dothveks exchanged glances, then one spoke. “We do know Rukken well, and we doubt he has any intention of returning the female. If he has taken her, it is to claim her as his mate.”

  Holly made a strangled sound in her throat, and Danica shook her head hard.

  Kush locked eyes with him. “You say this Rukken took you to his camp? Any chance you can take us there?”

  T’Kar gave a brief nod, his gaze dropping to his mate. “Let’s go find your friend.”

  Epilogue

  Caro rubbed her head. How long had she been asleep? Her brain felt foggy when she tried to sit up, and she sank back down on the rugs covering the sand floor.

  “Bex?” She called out. She and Bexli had been getting ready to go watch T’Kar go through the tahadu. Bexli had stepped outside to find Pog, who’d run off again, and then she’d smelled something funny and then…

  What had happened then? She couldn’t remember, but she knew she hadn’t gone to the tahadu. Had she missed it? Had she slept through it? Why wouldn’t her friends have woken her up?

  She finally pushed herself up to sitting. The tent was dark and felt smaller, even though she couldn’t see much more than faint outlines of the sloped sides. She’d definitely slept through the tahadu, since it was clearly the middle of the night. The entire village was silent, something that never happened until late at night when everyone had gone to sleep, and the fire had been doused and the animals had stopped making noises.

  But if it was the middle of the night, where was Bexli? She squinted through the darkness to see if she could make out her friend’s shape on the next bed. And why wasn’t Pog waking up and rushing over to lick her face? That creature never missed a chance to lick someone’s face.

  Maybe Bex had gotten lucky at the celebration that had been planned if T’Kar was successful. The woman had certainly attracted more than her share of interested looks from the Dothvek warriors since they’d arrived. Of course, none of the warriors had made a move. Apparently, the Dothveks were all about lady’s choice, but she wouldn’t fault her shapeshifter friend if she’d decided to sample the local men.

  She groped around her bed but couldn’t feel the side table where she’d left a goblet of water. “Shit. Where is everything?”

  “What do you need, female?”

  The low voice nearly made her scream. Why the hell was there a man in her tent? She knew Bexli wouldn’t have brought a guy back to the tent they shared.

  “Who the fuck are you, and why are you in my tent?” she managed to say, even as her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear her own words over it.

  “I am Rukken, and this is my tent.”

  “Wait, I’m in the wrong tent?” She glanced around, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. He was right. This definitely was not her tent. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how this happened.”

  He sat across from her near the tent flaps, and she could tell he was sitting on his haunches. “I brought you here.”

  That stopped her. “You what?”

  He didn’t answer, but he stood. Caro knew that by this point, she should be used to how imposing the Dothveks were, but as he towered over her in the dark, he looked massive. And was he wearing a loincloth? Her mouth went dry as he quickly crossed to her, squatting down again so that she could feel the heat of his body.

  “You are an offworlder. One of the females who came in the ship.”

  She scooted back, bumping into the fabric of the tent behind her. “I thought you were Dothvek?”

  He made a low noise in his throat that did not sound happy. “I am no longer part of the clan.”

  So, he definitely wasn’t from the village, but he sounded like a Dothvek. She couldn’t see him perfectly, but she could tell he wore barely anything and had heavy black tattoos across his chest. That looked Dothvek to her. She’d seen Cresteks, and he wasn’t one of them.

  “If you aren’t from the village, where are you from?” she asked, her eyes darting to the tent flaps. “Where are we?”

  He reached out a hand and cupped her face, tightening his grip when she jerked back. “You live with me now.”

  She went completely still as he rubbed his finger down her neck and growled. “You are mine.”

  Like hell, Caro thought. She threw out an elbow and caught him in the chin. As he bellowed in pain and fell back, she scampered for the exit, pushing through the flaps and stumbling out onto the sands.

  Her mouth gaped as she swiveled her head. She was no longer in the Dothvek village. The village was nowhere in sight. All she could see were endless sand dunes. She spun around and saw that the small tent was tucked in front of a copse of frond-topped trees and a small pond, but that there were no other tents. Only the one she’d been inside. The one with the Dothvek she’d just attacked.

  She scanned the sands desperately, but there was nothing else. There was no one to help her.

  A large arm curled around her waist from behind, and she gasped. His breath was warm as he lowered his mouth to her neck and pulled her flush against his massive, hard body. It wasn’t difficult to tell that he was hard everywhere.

  “I wish you hadn’t done that, female,” he whispered darkly.

  Thank you for reading TRIBUTE!

  If you liked this alien barbarian romance, you’ll lov
e SAVAGE. Bounty-hunter pilot Caro isn’t against the idea of hooking up with one of the alien barbarians. She does have a problem with being kidnapped by an exiled Dothvek. Too bad he’s convinced she’s his fated mate.

  One-click SAVAGE Now> Coming May 19, 2020

  Want to read more hot alien romance while you wait? Try the sexy Drexian Warriors.

  She’s been promised a dream wedding. The catch? She was abducted from Earth and her groom is a hot alien warrior with a bad attitude. He's a big shot commander used to being obeyed, but no way is she following HIS orders. Sparks will fly in TAMED!

  One-click TAMED Now>

  “This crazy hot tale of the alpha male alien and the spoiled little rich girl of Beverly Hills is a funny, steamy, and highly engaging introduction to Tana Stone's new series. I gotta have more of this!”-Amazon Reviewer

  This book has been edited and proofed, but typos are like little gremlins that like to sneak in when we’re not looking. If you spot a typo, please report it to: [email protected]

  Thank you!!

  Preview of TAMED—Tribute Brides of the Drexian Warriors #1

  This is the first chapter of another sci-fi alien warrior romance by Tana Stone, this one set on a high-tech space station and featuring badass Drexian warriors in need of human brides. I hope you enjoy!

  Chapter One

  Dorn strode across the deck of his ship’s bridge, his heavy boots echoing off the steel floor, and scanned the large window that doubled as a view screen. The enemy was in retreat—that was clear from the distant explosions lighting up the inky blackness. He balled his hands into large fists, pleased that his fleet had once again kept the Kronock from getting close to the solar system his people had vowed to protect. As a Drexian warrior, known for battle skill and fearlessness, it was more than his duty. It was his life’s mission.